Since the subject came up recently, and I usually skirt Hot Wheels only because they are ubiquitous and already get coverage beyond that of all others combined, I thought I would touch on the McDs Happy Meal cars.

I've often joked about Happy Meal cars as being "designed by committee," specifically a committee of attorneys. In my mind I see a long attorney table with a row of Matty attorneys on one side and a row of McDs attorneys on the other as they pass a model back and forth down the length of the table discussing how to "foolproof" a toy.

I don't have many McDs models, and about half of what I do have are counterparts to mainline issues that I collect. Case in point is this Camaro. Since this Camaro was the "it" car for Hot Wheels during the 1990s, I've acquired quite a few variants over the years and I have warmed to it. Some standout changes easily noted on the McDs variants are the wheels, the removal of the "NASCAR" window netting, and the big chunk of metal removed from the rear and replaced with plastic (cost cutting, I'm sure). At least the changes are subtle...the kinds of changes attorneys would make.

Happy Meal cars make a collection of their own, at this point the selection is wide and varied and full of surprises...not all of them good surprises, but that can be said about most lines of diecast models.



Two more Happy Meal issues of this casting



This is a playset car to stand in for the typical mainlines, for comparison.